• HOME >
  • Types of Tea

The Ripe Pu-erh Tea Made of Myanmar tea

[2017.04.23] Posted By

In this year, one of the objectives of my Yunnan trip was to look for the quality ripe pu-erh tea. Since the tea season was late, I have more time to look for the manufacturer of ripe pu-erh tea this time. So far we have succeeded to find two types of good ripe pu-erh tea.

The ripe pu-erh tea is made from the raw pu-erh tea

The ripe pu-erh tea is made of the fermentation by microorganism and raw pu-erh tea is used as the raw material. The raw pu-er tea will be piled on the floor and added with some water, mixed well, and then the microorganism fermentation will take place. There are different types of microorganism involve in the fermentation process, e.g., anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, yeast and mold. They take turn to grow and conduct fermentation. One pile normally consists of several tones of dry tea leaf, and the duration of the whole fermentation process is about one and a half to two months.
Normally during spring time, the manufacturer of ripe pu-erh tea is not conducting the fermentation. They are very busy collecting the raw pu-erh tea. We look for the tea fermented in previous year. As such, we bought 2016 tea.

Myanmar ripe pu-erh tea

One of the teas we bought is the Myanmar Ripe Pu-erh Tea. The raw pu-erh tea was made in the border town of Myanmar called Guo Gan (果敢) and it was brought to Yunnan to conduct fermentation. Right now Guo Gan is suffering the civil war. Due to extremely dangerous situation, the traffic between the borders is strictly controlled. The traffic is only resumed for a short period when fighting ceased. Due to the critical situation in Myanmar, it is getting harder to obtain the material nowadays.

We have visited the village in Guo Gan back in 2013. We drove for nearly three hours from the border of Yunnan to reach the village.

Naturally-farmed tea was used

Generally, the Guo Gan tea gives very bold body, long-lasting aftertaste with thick mouth feel. It is due to the growing condition of tea and the quality of the soil. In Guo Gan, the soil is yellowish and sticky. The soil is extremely rich in iron content.
If we make teapot using their soil, it would produce the great quality clay ware.

In addition, teas in Guo Gan are mostly naturally-farmed. They use no fertilizer and not to mention pesticide. Nevertheless, some teas along the road or passage may be unintentionally fertilized by cattle that are freely running around the village. My ripe pu-erh manufacturer is very particular about the tea growing under the natural environment. They are buying tea from the remote area where tea is free from fertilizer.

Very limited availability of spring tea

The ripe pu-erh tea produced from the first-plucked spring tea is scarcely available in tea market. Once we understand the practice of ripe pu-erh tea manufacturing, we can understand the reason why the spring tea is so limited.
Usually, the ripe pu-erh tea manufacturer conducts the fermentation of ripe pu-erh tea three times in a year: in spring, summer and autumn. In summer, due to the warm weather and raining season, tea grows fastest and thus the quantity of the summer tea is the largest and lowest in cost, and then followed by the autumn tea. On the contrary, the quantity of spring tea is usually very small but outstandingly good quality. Due to the material is very limited, the price of spring tea is high. For example, one of my ripe pu-erh tea manufacturer produces about 200-300 tones of ripe pu-erh tea a year. However, they only have a few tons of spring tea. As the standard practice of the ripe pu-erh tea manufacturer, they blend spring, summer and autumn crop in order to even out the price and quality. This is a very common practice of the ripe pu-erh tea manufacturing. Usually the lesser portion of the ripe pu-erh tea available in the market is made of the three-season blend, while most of the ripe pu-erh tea is made of summer-autumn blend.
However, if you have ever tried the ripe pu-erh tea that is made of the spring crop, you may not be able to come back to the three- or two-season blends. The spring ripe pu-erh tea gives soft mouth feel, strong aftertaste and the sweetness lingers down the throat for a long time. Because of the outstanding quality and cup characteristic, we cannot move away from the spring crop. The latest two types of ripe pu-erh teas are also made of spring tea harvested at the end of March to April.

We completed the compression in cake

We have already compressed the ripe pu-erh tea into 357g and reconfirm the quality. Now we are drying the cakes and it may takes about two weeks time for drying.

These teas are arriving at our shop in about one to two months time. I am very excited to introduce these teas.

Related Articles

How to get the latest update on HOJO Tea?

1. Follow Twitter, 2. Click "Like" on Facebook, and 3. Subscribe in newsletter. You can have the latest tea news from HOJO Tea.

Subscribe the Newsletter to enjoy the privileges
You may receive a free sample upon purchase, or you may have the priority to purchase special products. So please remember to subscribe our newsletter as well as the social network.
HOJO TEA Malaysia online Shop

HOJO TEA Online Shop NEWSlist

Discover the long-lasting flavor profile of 2023 Shi Feng Long Jing
We have launched the 2023 harvest of Shi Feng Long Jing tea. Shi Feng Long Jing tea, also known as Shi Feng Dragon Well tea. It is one of the most famous and highly regarded teas in China.Shi Feng Long Jing tea is characterized by its flat, spear-shaped leaves that have a vibrant green colour. …
Rare Jasmine Tea Uniquely Crafted from Ripe Pu-erh
Instead of sourcing finished jasmine tea, we specialize in producing custom-made jasmine tea by bringing our carefully selected raw materials to jasmine factories. Over the years, we have created numerous unique jasmine tea varieties that are not available elsewhere, such as Pu-erh jasmine tea made from raw Pu-erh tea leaves, Jasmine Silver Needle made from …

NEW ARTICLES

Discover the long-lasting flavor profile of 2023 Shi Feng Long Jing
We have launched the 2023 harvest of Shi Feng Long Jing tea. Shi Feng Long Jing tea, also known as Shi Feng Dragon Well tea. It is one of the most famous and highly regarded teas in China.Shi Feng Long Jing tea is characterized by its flat, spear-shaped leaves that have a vibrant green colour. …
Rare Jasmine Tea Uniquely Crafted from Ripe Pu-erh
Instead of sourcing finished jasmine tea, we specialize in producing custom-made jasmine tea by bringing our carefully selected raw materials to jasmine factories. Over the years, we have created numerous unique jasmine tea varieties that are not available elsewhere, such as Pu-erh jasmine tea made from raw Pu-erh tea leaves, Jasmine Silver Needle made from …
Introducing 3 Varieties of Phoenix Dancong Oolong Tea
We have released new types of Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea that are finished with more rounds of roasting with traditional charcoal fire by skilled tea master. In Phoenix, the locals called it Nong Xiang style, meaning that tea is giving more intense matured flavor. Nong Xiang tea refers to tea that has been roasted …
Exploring the Taste Diversity Within a Tea Tree: Apical Buds vs. Lateral Buds
Do you believe that all tea leaves have the same taste as long as they come from the same tree? I would like to explain that the taste of tea can vary significantly depending on the plucking position, even when harvested from the same tree. The Difference in Flavor Due to Different Harvesting Parts of …
Hidden Costs of High Valuations of Old Tea Trees
Over the past decade, tea enthusiasts in China have been captivated by teas harvested from Ancient Tea trees, particularly those from Yunnan province, Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea and Wuyi Rock Tea. However, as Ancient Tea trees are rare, the prices of teas harvested from them have skyrocketed. As a result, some farmers who possess …
Discover the Unique Taste of Wu Jia Ping Zhang Ancient Tree Raw Pu-Erh Tea
We have released Wu Jia Ping Zhang ancient tree raw pu-erh tea for 2020 and 2021. This tea is grown in tea gardens located around 2100 meters above sea level in the southwestern part of Lincang City, Yunnan Province of China, just a few dozen kilometres from the Myanmar border. Single-origin tea Wu Jia Ping …
Introducing 3 High Grown Darjeeling First Flush Teas Produced Using Sustainable Methods
We have released three types of Darjeeling First Flush, all of which are grown sustainably. The tea gardens are maintained using natural farming methods, and the use of fertilizers is limited when growing the tea trees. As a result, the tea gardens closely resemble their natural state. Unlike common Darjeeling tea, these teas grow slowly, …
New Release of Tsuge Zairai Sencha from Sustainable Tea Garden
Tsuge Zairai Sencha 都祁在来煎茶 is made from “zairai” tea plucked in spring, from the naturally farmed tea garden located in Tsuge, Nara City, Nara Prefecture. The tea garden of Tsuge Zairai Sencha is maintained in sustainable manner applying neither pesticide nor fertilizer. Tsuge Zairai Sencha has a subtle and refreshing floral scent with a hint …
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Cake 2021
Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we brought in loose tea this year, and for Malaysia we produced 200g cake. Mao cha before compressing into cake Very limited resources This tea is made from the wild tea, called Camelia taliensis. …
New Release of 2 Types of Darjeeling 1st Flush
We have released two types of Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea. The reason why the Darjeeling 1st Flush is greenish In Darjeeling tea, the 1st flush refers to the first-plucked spring tea. Usually, the Darjeeling 1st Flush tea is greenish. From the outlook, it looks like a green tea. Many people misunderstand that it is green …

PAGETOP